Play Your Beautiful Game

We haven’t had family movie night in quite some time, but it used to be an every Saturday night tradition.  As we were scanning through Netflix last night we came across a movie that fit right in with our family……Pele: Birth of a Legend.  It was too late last night, but we all decided that we would watch it tonight…….and I’ll tell you…..soccer fan or not, it’s a great movie.

As the boys watched, they asked how Pele and his friends were so good at such a young age.  I told them the same thing their coaches tell them…..”Kids in other parts of the world have the ball on their feet 24 hours a day…..they don’t have phones and Xboxes…..soccer is what they do.”

Without getting too deep into the history of Brazilian soccer, their defeat in the 1950 World Cup was blamed on their unorthodox playing style. The coaches began forcing their teams to play more like the teams from Europe….because that would be the only way to win against those teams.

As a young boy, Pele’s father taught him the old style of play.  He taught him to master his craft.  Becoming the best was a process, not something that would happen overnight.  He would eventually play for professional teams where they wouldn’t let him use those skills that he had learned.

What struck me was that when Pele began playing the way he knew how, and not imitating someone else, he excelled.  I believe that is so true in all our lives.  God has a plan for each and every one of us.  If we don’t listen to God….if we watch and imitate someone else….we won’t succeed.  Yes, God has a plan for that other person as well…..but it’s not our plan.  We are who God made us to be….not who we want God to have made us to be.  

Times will get hard, but you have to fight through the adversity.  Things aren’t always going to be easy.  Don’t listen to the naysayers.  They may think they know you, but they definitely don’t know the plans God has for you.

This movie, in a small way, was similar to what Pastor Jeff was speaking on this morning. Be relentless in your commitment to God.  His passage from scripture today came from Luke 9:57-62.  The gist of the passage is this, “When Jesus says follow, you go.  No excuses.  No wait a minutes.  Just go.”  Pastor Jeff posed a question to us, “Are you involved or are you committed?”  There is a clear difference.

My oldest wrapped up his league play this weekend.  In the second game he was involved in a throw in situation directly in front of the parents on the sidelines.  As I watched, he scooted right up behind an opposing player and began eyeing him up and down.  I looked down at another parent and asked if he saw him.  About that time the ref blew his whistle and called both kids over.  He looked at the opposing player, pointed at the ground and said, “This is your dirtpiece, sir.”  He looked at my son, again pointing at the ground and said, “This is your dirtpiece, sir.  Until the ball is thrown in, neither one of you have a right to the other’s dirtpiece.”  The ref sent them back to their spots and blew the whistle for play to begin.  The next moment was priceless.

…..The ball is thrown on to the field.  My son bumps the other kid out of his way to get the ball and looks at the other kid and says, “Get off my dirtpiece.”

My son was committed to getting that ball…..he had no intention of losing that spot on the field.

How committed are you in listening for God’s plan in your life?  How committed are you in following that plan when you hear it?  I tell myself everyday that I’m ready to burn the plow, like Elijah did in 1 Kings 19:21, at the first sign of God’s call.  But then there are times that I believe I have already made that leap of faith……and that every situation, whether at home, at work, in school, or at church is just another chance for me to learn a lesson I will need for when I finally step through that door that God has opened.

The Brazilian team went back to the World Cup Finals in 1958….and they played their way.  They played the way they knew how….and not try to imitate someone else.  And they won in grand fashion.  The ironic thing is, ever since, the world has tried to imitate their style of play.  My kids are learning the same skills, the same ball movements, the same ball control that the Brazilians have always had.  But as I watched that movie, and as I thought back to that sermon this morning, if we aren’t willing to give it our all…..not just a few practices a week…..not just coming to church for an hour on Sunday…..we are not going to end up where God wants us to be.  We will never step into the greatness that He has planned for us.

I’m ready.  I’m not sure for what exactly, but I know I will see it, hear it, feel it when it arrives.  But until then, I will continue to grow along the way.  I think its kind of like looking down a long hallway and seeing an open door.  We know it’s there, we can see the light coming through…..but we must make it down the hall first.  Pele’s door opened very early on in his life…..but it took practice, work, pain, struggle, success, and commitment for him to step through that door and into that stadium in the 1958 World Cup when his number was called.  We all have the ability to do the same thing.  We just have to listen for God so we know when to move.